"But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat... Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person." 1 Corinthians 5:11-13

This PDF is a printable tract to hand out for Easter. It is a quick overview that exposes Easter as paganism, along with the law given with the doctrine of Salvation. Can print and fold, or print double sided and cut in half for two tracts per page.

Extra Content: A Witch Writes CLE About This Article Why Do We Celebrate April Fool's Day? Popular "Christian" Icons

Many Americans may remember that, when they were a child, their parents would wake up early one Sunday morning, and instruct all their children dress up in their "Easter clothes," so they would look their best when they go to a church building. Of course, when we are children, we simply do what we are told, and accept the what we are doing as "normal" without question because we simply follow the instructions of our parents, assuming that what we do is a learning experience for how we ought to live, but how many people really ask WHY they dress up for Easter Sunday, or HOW this tradition got start in the first place?

In my experience, Easter is treated with MORE reverence than the pagan holiday of Yule/Christmas, and this is because Christmas is seen as an enjoyable celebration, while Easter is treated with more strictness. Just like with the Christmas celebration, Easter is seen to be "all about Jesus," and a "Christian" holiday, but where in the Bible are we instructed to celebrate Easter at this particular time of year?
(Read Christmas: Rejecting Jesus here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Before writing this expose, I had always been taught that Easter is a "Christian" holiday that we all get together to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the typical response one will get from a churchgoer if asked about it, and the following article from "About.com" sums up the narrative:
"On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is typically the most well-attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches."
-About Religion, "What Is Easter?" About.com, retrieved Feb 24, 2015, [christianity.about.com/od/holidaytips/qt/whatiseaster.htm]

If that is true, then why do so many unbelievers and apostates celebrate this like clockwork every year? The media gets out their cameras and photographs celebrities going to a church building for "Easter Sunday." (Photos taken during, or on the way to, Easter Sunday Services.)

Easter Sunday is the most well-attended Sunday service for "Christian" churches around the world, but the truth is that most people ONLY attend Easter services once a year. For many people, it is a fashion statement that they believe will get them into heaven because they believe in the ridiculous notion that God is pleased with them if they perform a one-time dress-up play date and go to a church building annually, and the all-inclusive new-age church buildings welcome them into their leavened services with open arms, ready and willing to take any tithe money from them because it is a very profitable celebration.
(Tithe is unbiblical in the New Testament church. Read "Tithe is Not a Christian Requirement" here at creationliberty.com for more details.

Christian Answers, a 501c3 "ministry" for children, teaches young boys and girls why they believe Christians supposedly celebrate Easter:
"As Christians, we celebrate Easter for entirely different reasons than most people do. You see, about two thousand years ago, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life, and to die for our sins! But Jesus did not stay dead; He rose from the dead! We are actually celebrating Jesus' death for our sins and His resurrection. That is why many people call Easter, Resurrection Sunday, because that is exactly what it is."
-David J. Sheley, "Why Do We Celebrate Easter?" Christian Answers, 2008, retrieved Feb 17, 2014, [http://christiananswers.net/kids/edn-easter.html]

I found this answer to be fascinating because they specifically said that Christians celebrate Easter for different reasons than MOST people. In most countries, Easter has been spread by influence of the Roman Catholic Church, and since Catholicism itself is a pagan religion that feigns itself to be about the Lord Jesus Christ, it should be no wonder that most countries just uphold the pagan bunny and eggs rituals.

(Read "Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
-Matthew 7:18

This article will demonstrate the foundations of Easter, where the traditions came from, and why. There is a reason why so much paganism comes with the holiday. When church-goers are practicing things in their church buildings that are directly associated with paganism and witchcraft, and is well-received by the world, we need to get our facts straight so we can get right with the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
-1 John 5:21

If ye love me, keep my commandments.
-John 14:15

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
-2 Corinthians 2:11

The worship of the sun god is a key point in the traditions of European/North American witches and sorcerers, and the rebirth of the sun god is celebrated in the spring when the warmth of the sun returns. This is called the Spring Equinox, because it is the mid-point between the solstices, the longest and shortest day of the year.

Though the average church-goer realizes that Easter does not take place on March 21st every year, and makes attempts to disconnect paganism and witchcraft from Easter because of that fact, very few of them realize why the date bounces around so much.

"Ostara (circa March 21), the spring equinox, also known as spring, Rites of Spring, and Eostra's Day, marks the first day of true spring... On Ostara the hours of day and night are equal. Light is overtaking darkness; the Goddess and God impel the wild creatures of the earth to reproduce... Traces of this old custom are even found in Christianity. Easter, for example, is placed on Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, a rather 'pagan' way to organize religious rites." -Scott Cunningham, Wicca, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2010, ISBN: 9780738717159; Cunningham practiced witchcraft for over twenty years, and even after his death in 1993, is still highly regarded as an expert in the craft.

So if you want to find out which day Easter Sunday falls on, simply go find a calandar that shows the waxing and waning of the moon and find the first Sunday following the first full moon after (or on) the 21st of March. The celebration, whether Christians are aware of it or not, is all centered around the pagan worship of the sun god in the spring, and that is a practice that is specifically condemned in the Bible:

Hear the word of the LORD... Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
-Isaiah 1:10-16

But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
-Galatians 4:9-11

Paul explained to Galatia that they were not to turn back to the old traditions of the Jews that were appointed by God for them to observe because they were saved by the Lord Jesus Christ and should turn to Him, and nowhere does it the Bible tell us to turn to tradition of witches:

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft... and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
-Galatians 5:17-21

Observing the practices of pagan witchcraft is works of the flesh that fight against the Spirit.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
-Galatians 5:25

If we live in the Spirit, then we should put away the traditions of pagan witchcraft. Next, we need to address how modern-day Easter ended up being about the full moon instead of the Spring Equinox specifically:

"To this day, Easter Sunday is determined by the ancient lunar calendar system which places the holiday on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or following the Vernal Spring Equinox. (Formally, this marked the 'pregnant' phase of the Triple Goddess passing into the fertile season.)" -Gerina Dunwich, Wicca Craft: The Modern Witches Book of Herbs, Magick and Dreams, Citadel Press, 1991, p. 28, ISBN: 9780806512389; Dunwich is a practicing witch, astrologer, and high priestess of Wicca.

As I pointed out earlier, the Roman Catholic Church is key in defining what we see in Easter celebrations in new-age churches today. Rome's function has always been an ecumenical gathering of all the world's religions together under one umbrella, and after Constantine established the Catholic Church for Rome, it began a process of creating Catholic versions (i.e. what the world calls "Christian" versions) of paganism, which was already widely practiced in its government.
(Read "Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

"The Christian holy day of Easter is named for Her [the Goddess of Paganism], and is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox — when the pregnant Goddess enters the season of fertility."
-Amber K., Coven Craft: Witchcraft for Three or More, Llewellyn Worldwide, 1998, p. 158, ISBN: 9781567180183; Amber K is a third degree priestess of Wicca, served as National First Officer of the Covenant of the Goddess, and has taught witchcraft for over 25 years.

The pagans were giving praise to their false goddess being pregnant with the sun god she will bring forth, and the Roman Catholics, seeking to copy their new pagan religion after the other pagans, saw a direct correlation between a goddess being pregnant with a god, to Mary and Jesus. In our article on Catholicism, we demonstrate that the "Mary" of the Catholics is actually the goddess of paganism; they are one and the same, and they are depicted and worshiped in the same way.

Those involved in Wicca understand the symbolism in the Catholic Church very well: "Many mythological traditions identify the moon as a feminine counterpart to the masculine sun. For this reason, a number of Goddesses are associated with the moon, including Artemis or Diana, Selena, and of course, Luna. Even the 'Goddess' of Christianity, the Virgin Mary, has some associations with the moon under her feet... So, for Witches, the moon is special because it is a powerful symbol of the Goddess, and therefore of women."
-Gerina Dunwich, Wicca A to Z: A Complete Guide to the Magickal World, Citadel Press, 1997, p. 180, ISBN: 9780806519302

These are idols; tributes to false pagan gods.

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
-1 Corinthians 10:14

The following is from a 33-year veteran witch that helps make up the Welsh Traditionalist Coven in Missouri, a 501c3 Church of Paganism:
"The major difference between The Goddess and the Blessed Virgin Mary is that The Goddess is a Creatrix in Her Own Right and a source of Divine Power. In Catholicism, Mary is Blessed, unique among women, sinless, The Mother of God - and it is believed that She ascended bodily into Heaven. However, for Catholics, She is supposed to be merely a channel of Power from God, and not a source of Divine Power, Herself. Of course, this is only the official view of the Catholic Church. Many worshipers understand, and have always understood instinctively, if not consciously, that the Blessed Virgin is a modern version of The Goddess; and many Catholic cathedrals are actually built upon the sites of ancient temples to The Great Goddess. For example, St. Peters Cathedral in the Vatican is built right on top of the old temple of The Goddess, Magna Mater, and some parts of the original temple are presumably still left under the foundations."
-Raven Emrys Aurlineus, "The Catholic Goddess," May 4, 2008, retrieved Nov 20, 2013, [http://ravenemrys.hubpages.com/hub/The-Catholic-Goddess#]

This is why pagans refer to their goddess as the "Queen of Heaven," and Catholics also refer to Mary as the "Queen of Heaven" -- they are one and the same. The pagans directly connect Yule (i.e. Christmas) to the celebration of the Spring Equinox or Ishtar (Easter), from the birth of their sun god, to his rising up to the heavens.

This same pagan connection between Christmas and Easter is also esteemed by the Catholic Church today:
"Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast (festum festorum), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter."
-Catholic Online, "Easter Sunday - April 5, 2015, Holy Day of Obligation," retrieved Feb 24, 2015, [catholic.org/clife/lent/easter.php]

The reason everyone gives such reverence to Easter Sunday is because the Roman Catholic Church set the same example the pagans give to the sun god.

You'll notice in the reference that it is called the "Holy Day of Obligation," meaning that you have to participate in it, despite the fact that we read earlier in Scripture that Christians are not to involve themselves in such obligatory practices. This is one of the reasons why you'll see so many wicked people attend an Easter Sunday Mass, because they believe in order to be good Catholics and not have to suffer in purgatory as long, they must, at minimum, attend this once a year.

"When envisioning the Goddess and God, many of the Wicca see them as well-known deities from ancient religions. Diana, Pan, Isis, Hermes, Hina, Tammuz, Hecate, Ishtar, Cerridwen, Thoth, Tara, Aradia, Artemis, Pele, Apollo, Kanaloa, Bridget, Helios, Bran, Lugh, Hera, Cybele, Inanna, Maui, Ea, Athena, Lono, Marduk--the list is virtually endless. Many of these deities, with their corresponding histories, rites and mythic information furnish the concept of deity for Wiccans."
-Scott Cunningham, Wicca, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2010, ISBN: 9780738717159; Cunningham practiced witchcraft for over twenty years, and even after his death in 1993, is still highly regarded as an expert in the craft.

In our Christmas article, we cover thoroughly that the pagans' catagorization of their gods and goddesses under many different names is a result of the tower of Babel. They all were worshiping the same false pagan god and goddess, until the Lord God separated their language into many, and today, they are called by different names depending on the region of the language, but modern pagans understand they are all referring back to the same energy of the universe.

The particular goddess worshipped by witches and pagans at this time of the year go by the following names: Eostra/Eostar/Eostre (Saxon), Ishtar (Sumerian), Ostara (German), Astarte (Greek), and Easter (English). All the names represent the same focal goddess of pagan worship, celebrations, and rituals.

Easter is the name of their pagan goddess.

Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians...
-1 Kings 11:33

"Invocations [to] Goddesses: Anahita, Anath, Aparajita, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Athena, Badb, Bellona, Durga, Eris, Fea, Inanna, Ishtar,"
-Eileen Holland, The Wicca Handbook, Weiser Books, 2008, ISBN: 9781609254520; Holland is a Wiccan priestess and author of many books about magic and witchcraft.

Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
-Ezra 9:1

In the Bible, God gave Israel strict instructions not to follow after the wicked abominations of the Canaanites. The gods and goddesses that Christians are honoring by celebrating Easter are the very same gods and goddesses the Canaanites worshipped, and witches seem to understand this concept better than most church-goers today.

"Images of the Goddess...offer silent testimony to the most ancient worship of the Queen of heaven in the land that is most often remembered today as the homeland of Judaism and Christianity. In exploring the influence and importance of the worship of the Goddess in Canaan in biblical times, we find that as Ashtoreth, Asherah, Astarte, Anath, or simply as Elat or Baalat, she was the principal deity of such great Canaanite cities as Tyre, Sidon, Ascalon, Beth Anath, Aphaca, Byblos, and Ashtoreth Kamaim."
-Athena Gardner, Lessons in Goddess Spirituality: Wicca 101, iUniverse, 2000, p. 15, ISBN: 9780595131167; Gardner is a Wiccan High Priestess.

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
-1 Kings 11:5

And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians...
-2 Kings 23:13

Solomon, during his fall from righteousness and wisdom, worshipped, and built temples to, the goddess "Ashtoreth," which is another form of the goddess name "Astarte," which is another form of the goddess "Ishtar," which are all names for Semiramis, the Babylonian Queen worshiped as a goddess from which all this began. It's also interesting to note that during Solomon's turning to the pagan fertility goddess, and worshipping her, he gathered unto himself many foreign, pagan, and promiscuous women, never having enough to satisfy the lust he adopted from the "fertility goddess."

But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
-1 Kings 11:1-3

We also discussed in our Christmas article that Nimrod (Babylonian King) was claimed to be the sun god, and his sexual intercourse with his mother (Semiramis) was a pregnancy that claimed to reproduce Nimrod in a new body under the name Tammuz.

He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. -Ezekiel 8:13-14 They claim they weep for Jesus, but that's just the name they're using. Their idol is actually Tammuz, an abomination unto God.

In pagan culture, Tammuz dies, which represents the cold of the winter, but then he is reborn in the spring, and the goddess will give birth again at Christmas nine months later.

"The words Easter and oestrogen (estrogen) were derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'Ostara,' goddess of fertility. Night and day stand in perfect balance, with the powers of light on the ascent... The God of the Waxing Year confirms his Yuletide victory over his twin, the Lord of the Waning Year. The Goddess in her Maiden aspect is wooed by the young sun god's embraces and conceives a child. The child will be born nine months from now at the next winter solstice."
-Kala Trobe, The Witch's Guide to Life, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2003, p. 112, ISBN: 9780738702001; Trobe is an award-winning pagan author of books about practicing paganism, witchcraft, and the occult.

The real origin of Easter is the ritual celebration of the conception of the sun god (Tammuz) through his mother (Semiramus), and the ONLY connection that has to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is through the propaganda and unholy abomination of the Roman Catholic Church through their ecumenical movement. This is no different than what Israel did in the days of the prophets in the Old Testament books; the typical Christian's excuse is that, because they believe on Jesus, they can celebrate paganism under a different pretext, and God is okay with that, but that's exactly the excuse Israel used to make as well.

Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
-Jeremiah 7:8-11

Church-goers today are typically following after the lying words of preachers who encourage their pagan celebrations, honoring false gods, claiming they are delivered by Jesus Christ, so therefore they are justified to live like the Devil. Most church-goers have their hearts set on finding an excuse in Scripture, rather than having to admit what they do is wrong; for example:

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world,
-John 17:15

So the church-goer will whine to keep their pagan practices, saying they just have to live in this world, but they ignore the second part of that verse:

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
-John 17:15-19

Sanctification means to set apart, and we are supposed to set ourselves apart from the ways of the world; from the witchcraft and paganism of the heathen.

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
-Titus 2:14

We can't be a peculiar people if we are participating in the same pagan practices of the world. We should be zealous to stay away from such wicked celebrations.

Most people around the world know that when you think of Easter, the first thing you think of is not Jesus Christ -- it's rabbits and eggs, and most churches across the country participate in those rituals; I've been to a number of them myself. From the Easter bunny in shopping malls, to the advertising on television, rabbits and eggs are the heart of this holiday. Since there is nothing in the Bible concerning Jesus Christ in correlation with rabbits and eggs, then the source of this symbol is not coming from Scripture, and so we need to do some investigation to find out where this connection came from, and why the rabbit/egg symbol is significant.

"Ostara--March 20-23... This is the Spring Equinox, known also as Ostara, or Eostar. It's the time of balance, when light and dark are equal and the Earth swells with new life. In ancient times, people celebrated the arrival of spring, and the Goddess of Eostar, or Eostre, whose symbols were the egg and the hare, both representations of the Great Mother... Traditional symbols of this Sabbat are eggs, lambs, chicks, and rabbits--all symbolic of the Goddess in her 'mother' aspect. Eggs are considered a symbol of the universe itself, with the shell representing earth; the membrane, air; the yolk, fire; and the white, water. An ancient Ostara custom was to dye eggs red, the color of life-force and regeneration. Other traditional colors of this Sabbat are silver and penny-candy pastels."
-Michele Morgon, Simple Wicca, Conari Press, 2008, p. 52, ISBN: 9781609250393

The symbol of the lamb in the Easter celebration is drawn directly from pagan tradition. The Catholic Church sees the Bible use the metaphor of the Lamb of God, and then merges pagan symbolism in with it for an unholy abomination.
"Lamb Amulet: To increase fertility or to fill your home with peace, use an amulet in the shape of a lamb (the symbol of fertility and peace)."
-Gerina Dunwich, The Wicca Spellbook, Citadel Press, 1994, p. 78, ISBN: 9780806514765; Dunwich is a practicing witch, astrologer, and high priestess of Wicca.

Again, remember the goal of Rome was to combine everything under one ecumenical umbrella, and so the Pope sees the pagan symbol of the lamb connected with peace, and Lamb of God being the prince of peace, so he combines the concepts into one. The world is completely deceived by the Catholic Church, so much that they participate in this pagan celebration, thinking that it's of God, when it's not. The pagan traditions originated in Babylon, and Rome brings those Babylonian traditions into an unholy abomination in their wicked church, wearing their robes of purple and scarlet, and drinking from a golden cup that claims to be the propitiation for sins, and that's why the Bible calls it MYSTERY BABYLON. (Read "Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism - A Woman Rides the Beast" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
-Revelation 17:3-5

In the Gospel, the Lamb of God is the name for the metaphor of Christ being a pure sacrifice for the sins of man. In paganism, the lamb is an actual symbol they use to represent their god.


"For Wiccans, lambs are symbols of the cute and fluffy, of innocence and of youthful energies. In the early Spring, it's appropriate to symbolize our God as a lamb--so long as we remember that lambs do mature, and the males become rams, just as our God matures and takes on the more assertive and lusty aspects we associate with male sheep."
-Ashleen O'Gaea, Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Samhain to Ostara, Career Press, 2004, p. 139-140, ISBN: 9781564147318; O'Gaea is a member of the Tuscon Area Wiccan-Pagan Network and has a Wiccan prison ministry.

In the Bible, the Lord God is never represented by a symbol (and that includes the cross symbol on so many churches):

Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
-Acts 17:29

Of course, the average church-goer is going to try to make excuses like, "It doesn't mean paganism to me!" or, "They may have been a long time ago, but now it's about Jesus!" I honestly don't care what someone's personal opinion is about Easter, and I don't care how they feel about their traditions; I want to know what the Bible says.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
-Matthew 7:18

Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
-Mark 7:13

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them... But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
-Ephesians 5:11-13

And these church-goers treat their Easter egg hunts with the same "ho-hum" approach:
"Culturally speaking, we see public Easter egg hunts and games designed to promote community. Why not? After all, not only are those eggs a symbol of animal fertility associated with this Holiday, but the very practice of hunting those eggs comes from the ancient practice of hunting for eggs and nuts to be given as gifts of fertility... What better way of sharing the true Pagan meaning of this celebration with our children?"
-A.J. Drew, A Wiccan Bible: Exploring the Mysteries of the Craft from Birth to Summerland, Career Press, 2003, p. 148, ISBN: 9781564146663; Drew hosts the annual "Real Witches Ball," which is one of the largest Pagan gatherings in the U.S, and the owner of Salem West, one of the largest Witchcraft shops in the Midwest.

There are no egg metaphors in the Gospel of Jesus Christ concerning His resurrection and salvation; therefore, it's obvious that it comes from a source of mankind, not of God. It's not difficult to see that Easter eggs are a representation of fertility in pagan traditions, and the hunting of those eggs to honor pagan gods.

But rabbits don't lay eggs, so how does the Easter bunny connect? "Easter, like nearly every Christian [i.e. Catholic] religious holiday, is rich with an abundance of Pagan overtones, customs, and traditions such as Easter eggs and the Easter bunny. Eggs, as previously mentioned, were ancient fertility symbols and offerings to the goddess of the Pagans. The hare was a symbol of rebirth and resurrection, and was a sacred animal to many lunar goddesses in both western and eastern cultures, including the goddess Ostara, whose escort was a rabbit." -Gerina Dunwich, Wicca Craft: The Modern Witches Book of Herbs, Magick and Dreams, Citadel Press, 1991, p. 28, ISBN: 9780806512389; Dunwich is a practicing witch, astrologer, and high priestess of Wicca.

(Photo taken in Providence United Methodist Church in Spanish Fort, Alabama in 2010.)

Ostara, again, is another name for Easter, and the escort of that goddess is a rabbit. "Eggs and rabbits are sacred to Her [Ostara]... Pagan Anglo-Saxons made offerings of colored eggs to Her at the Vernal Equinox. They placed them at graves especially, probably as a charm of rebirth. (Egyptians and Greeks were also known to place eggs at gravesites)... Rabbits are sacred to Ostara, especially white rabbits, and She was said to be able to take the form of a rabbit." -RavynStar, "Goddess Ostara," Mar 17, 2012, retrieved Feb 25, 2015, [journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/goddess-ostara]; RavynStar is a practicing witch who serves in Army Reserve National Guard; image by deviantart user "UnholyVault"

"The Easter Bunny had its origins with the legend of the Germanic Goddess Eostre. The small field rabbit wished with all its heart to please this Goddess. As a show of his devotion, he decorated the sacred eggs with bright colors and intricate patterns and then humbly presented them to his beloved Goddess. She was so pleased with the bunny's beautiful work, that she wished all of humankind to join in and share her joy! Since that day, the Eostre (Easter) rabbit has gone throughout the world carrying out her wishes, and delivering little decorated gifts of life."
-Nancy C. Pittman, Christian Wicca: The Trinitarian Tradition, self-published, 2003, p. 123, ISBN: 9781410753472

The reason rabbits have so commonly been a symbol of fertility in pagan customs is because rabbits have a unique ability to get pregnant twice at the same time, or in other words, a female can be pregnant with one litter, mate with a male, and start a second pregnancy in the middle of the first gestation period. This is also why the rabbit symbol has been in used in other places, like Playboy Magazine, as a symbol of fertility in fornication.

If these symbols are supposedly "Christian" and "all about Jesus" according to the average American church-goer, why is it that it's celebrated by the fictional witches of the Harry Potter novels? In the novels, the characters give and receive Easter eggs and wish each other "Happy Easter," and it's done in multiple books in that series.
(See J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter Collection: (Books 1-7), Classic Series Books, p. 476-477; Also read "Fantasy Novels: Invitations to Hell - J.K. Rowling & Harry Potter" here at creationliberty.com for more details on Harry Potter.)


(Photo from "Ancient Light," a sight that teaches Wicca and sells products for it.)
A born-again Christian should have nothing to do with these pagan traditions.

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity... If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
-2 Timothy 2:19-21

It needs to be emphasized that Easter is a pagan practice of a false religion, and church-goers everywhere rebel against the Word of God so they can keep their traditions. If a preacher stood up in one of these church buildings and encouraged people to pray on prayer mats facing Mecca in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there would be outrage because most people know that to be an Islamic practice, but where they would reject the practices of the pagan religion of Islam, they have no problem accepting the pagan practices of Wicca. They stubbornly cling to pagan tradition because many of these could care less about the Word of God.

(Read "Islam: Religion of Terror" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

The typical church-goer response is "Well, I don't see it that way," or "But I think it's just about," -- stop right there. These people claim that the Bible is their final authority in all matters of faith and practice, but the truth is that what they see and what they think is their final authority in all matters of faith and practice; they're called hypocrites and liars.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
-Matthew 6:24

Most church-goers, even if they learn the truth of this, wouldn't dare question their church building's practices on it for fear of upsetting anyone, or worse, being shunned out for teaching the truth. So instead, they ride the fence on the issue, making excuses for others, and becoming lukewarm, just as Christ described the Laodicean church.

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
-Revelation 3:14-15

This information on Easter was not hard to find, it just takes time to study out the matter. But despite how easy it is to find this information, most church buildings still participate in it because it's just easier to do what the world is doing, going whichever way the wind is blowing, than to have to fight the good fight of faith.

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
-Ephesians 4:14

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
-1 Timothy 6:12

"EGG is the source of life and the concealment of mystery... Eggs are also symbols of rebirth and regeneration. Along with the hare, the egg appears as a symbol in the cult of Ostara, a spring goddess. These figures were later adopted into the Easter celebration of Christianity as the "Easter Bunny" and decorated eggs.

Among the Druids was a belief in the Cosmic Egg of the Serpent, symbolized by the sea-urchin fossil. The connection of the egg and the serpent appears earlier among the ancient Egyptians as the Cosmic Egg of the Sun god Ra. The theme also appears in Greek mythology related to the egg of Orphism, where the egg is the symbol of the mystery of life, creation, and resurrection." -Raven Grimassi, Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2000, p. 135, ISBN: 9781567182576; Image from same source; Grimassi is an award-winning, neo-pagan author and revered trainer in witchcraft.

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
-Jeremiah 10:2

(Grace Baptist Church in Alabama, 2012; over 23,000 occult symbols were used in honor of the sun god and spring goddess, but no rebuke coming from the church's leadership.)

Over 23,000 eggs—do you realize how much time, effort, and money this church has wasted on witchcraft? The costs and manpower to prepare and clean up this pagan mess is ridiculous when we consider the thousands everyday dying and going to hell with their hopes in false doctrine.

We can't teach children about the sanctification of the Lord Jesus Christ when we're immersing ourselves into the traditions of witches.

I found out that Living Hope Church in Indiana is having a 300,000 egg hunt. "At LHC we don't want community to just be part of our name, but we want it to embody the culture of who we are as a church. We are passionate about sharing Christ's love through our actions, caring for one another, and positively impacting our community. That is the driving force behind everything we do."
-About Living Hope Church, retrieved Feb 26, 2015, [largestegghunt.com]

Where in the Bible did Christ tell us to be charitable to homeless by providing for them bouncy houses and face painting, and to arrange helicopters to dump candy for the sick? But of course, it's all for Jesus, right? They're doing this in honor of pagan witchcraft, and they try to say it's of God.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
-Exodus 20:7

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
-Matthew 15:9

If we look into the word origins of Easter, we find some more interesting connections to the Roman Catholic pagan traditions that new-age churches have adopted.

easter (n): Anglo-Saxon Christians [i.e. Catholics] adopted her [i.e. Ostara's] name and many of the celebratory practices for their Mass of Christ's resurrection. Ultimately related to east. Almost all neighboring languages use a variant of Latin Pascha to name this holiday (see paschal). Easter egg attested by 1825, earlier pace egg (1610s).
(See 'paschal' 'easter', Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2014, retrieved Mar 4, 2014, [www.etymonline.com])

east (n): Old English east "east, easterly, eastward," from Proto-Germanic *aus-to-, *austra- "east, toward the sunrise"
(See 'east', Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2014, retrieved Mar 4, 2014, [www.etymonline.com])

Easter comes from the root word east, which is a reference to where the sun rises because this is a celebration of the pagan sun god's conception. Christian churches have "sunrise services," in honor of Easter (i.e. Semiramis's pregnancy with Tammuz), believing they are giving honor to Jesus, when they are actually committing abomination in the sight of God. Christians get up very early on night of the full moon (symbol of the pagan goddess), and gather together on their church grounds to face the sun, and have a worship service while watching the sun god appear over the horizon. This is a heathen tradition that the Bible has condemned as abomination.

He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger:
-Ezekiel 8:13-17

Just as the Jews in the days of the prophets did not take idolatry seriously, so too church-goers today don't take it seriously. Are not God and Jesus Christ one and the same? How can someone claim to be a Christian, and claim this sunrise service practice to be of Jesus Christ, when Jesus Christ says this is an abomination?

If ye love me, keep my commandments.
-John 14:15

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:12-14

(Century-old Easter tradition for this church; teaching the ways of the heathen.)
"'I love coming up here on my horse, and being here Easter morning is just beautiful,' Lydia said... Missy Haury, Carlene Raczynski and Rich Raczynski, who attend Calvary Chapel of Gridley, kept their eyes focused on the horizon while taking in the beautiful morning. The 30-minute service featured seven pastors and a worship team that sang songs of praise for Jesus Christ. 'God touched my heart this morning,' Chin Noyes said after wiping away a tear and singing 'Amazing Grace.'"
-David Bitton, "Worshipers Attend Sutter Buttes Easter Sunrise Service," Apr 21, 2014, retrieved Feb 26, 2015, [www.appeal-democrat.com/news/worshipers-attend-sutter-buttes-easter-sunrise-service/article_6ed040bc-c915-11e3-b14b-0017a43b2370.html]

What chance does the Word of God have in competition with the waves of emotion these people get in their hearts?

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
-Jeremiah 17:9

And I'm sure the people who attend this would be angry with me when reading this, claiming that they are really worshiping God with their songs and melodies, but again, my Bible says:

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies... Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
-Amos 5:23

Why is it that so many church-goers think that after the Lord God sent His own son to suffer on the cross for us that now He's okay with pagan practices?

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear... Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
-Isaiah 1:15-16

Evil doesn't magically become good by slapping a Jesus label on it.

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
-Matthew 7:17

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
-Isaiah 5:20

What About Lent? Since we're on the subject of calling evil good, Lent, as with other traditions, is CATHOLIC in origin, and if it comes from the bowels of the Catholic church, why would any Christian copy it? I would challenge any Christian to show me any place in Scripture where Lent was recognized and observed by the twelve Apostles and the first century Christians. Again, Paul warned us not to become observers of days and times, turning back into bondage. (Gal 4:9-11) Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. -Matthew 4:1-2 Lent is claimed to be a copy of the 40-day fast that Jesus Christ did in the wilderness, but this was not practiced by the early church, and there has never been a Biblical justification for observance of it. I believe it's important to mention that true Biblical fasting is putting aside food to drink water only. This Biblical type of fasting is NOT observed by today's lazy, luke-warm churches. These Laodicean church buildings claim they're fasting during their Catholic-recognized Lent, but really what they do is give up chocolate, or TV, or chewing gum, or some other minor thing for 40 days. To actually have to skip a meal is unheard of in most churchianity circles. If these churches really wanted to copy Jesus Christ, then they would have nothing but water for 40 days, and very few people in this world are willing to do such a thing, but there is no tradition of observing a 40-day fast in the first place. Egypt had an "Egyptian Lent" in which this fasting of one minor thing in particular was observed. Rome adopts the pagan tradition of the Egyptians, and then transfers that into the Catholic church, which attributes it to their false "jesus." The Egyptian tradition was in honor of Osiris, which is another name for Nimrod/Tammuz, the sun god of Babylonian culture. (Read "Christmas: The Rejection of Jesus" here at creationliberty.com for more details.) "In Egypt, there was a time of fasting for forty days during the Egyptian Lent. The mourning and the fasting naturally followed the suffering and the death of Osiris... But when the death was shifted to Easter, to be celebrated in accordance with the Jewish Passover, to which it was hitched on, the long time of fasting remained as in Egypt," -Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt, the Light of the World: A Work of Reclamation and Restitution in Twelve Books, Vol. 2, T. F. Unwin, 1907, p. 746 Though the Catholic Church likes to give the impression to the general public that Lent is a replication of Jesus in the wilderness, the reality is that their pagan church is copying fasting to Osiris/Nimrod/Tammuz, the sun god (also directly connected to Semiramis, the moon goddess of the Babylonians), and even some Catholics have been honest about this fact. "Our State Church, like its Mother of Rome, is still busy with Lent superstitions, derived from Paganism... The forty days abstinence of Lent was borrowed from the worship of a Babylonian Goddess. The Yezidis, or devil worshippers of Koordistan, still observe it. Humboldt shows that Pagan Mexicans observed a Lent of forty days, beginning three days after the vernal equinox, in honour of the sun. The Egyptian Lent of forty days was in commemoration of Osiris. To allure the Pagans to an already corrupted Christianity, Rome took measures to amalgamate the Christian [i.e. Catholic] and Pagan Festivals. This was mainly accomplished by Dionysius the Little, about A.D. 525. The change of the calendar, in regard to Easter, brought into the so-called church the grossest Lent corruptions and superstitions; such as we see not in this country, nor in these days, and could not look upon without shame." -David King (Catholic Author), The Ecclesiastical Observer: Fortnightly Journal and Review, Vol. 29, No. 1, Jan 1, 1876, p. 83 Just as Easter, Christians ought to be ashamed for upholding pagan traditions, but they instead glory themselves in it. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. -Phillipians 3:18-19 There is a local church bulletin that we receive in the mail, and in 2014, they announced their gathering of all the churches in the area to celebrate the pagan Lent tradition: "The Waldron Area Ministries invites you to experience Lent... March 23rd - at Waldron Baptist Church, Preacher: Rev. Brandon Sutton (Blue Ridge Christian Union Church) March 30th - at Rays Crossing Christian union Church, Preacher: Rev. Marcy Patrick [unbiblical FEMALE pastor] (Waldron United Methodist Church) April 6th - at Little Blue River Baptist Church, Preacher: Rev. Alan Small (Interim at Waldron Baptist Church) April 13 - at Waldron United Methodist Church, Preacher: Community Choir Cantata - "The Day He Wore My Crown" April 18 (Good Friday) - at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, Musical Drama" -Waldron Communicator, Vol. 8, No. 4, April 2014; Read "Reverend is an Unbiblical Title" and "Can Women Teach in Church?" here at creationliberty.com for more details. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. -Galatians 5:1 Assuming there are Christians in these church buildings, I pray our Lord Jesus Christ would rebuke them to righteousness and truth, to abandon their pagan practices and sanctify themselves. As part of Lent, people participate in "Ash Wednesday," which is a process of taking some ash to form a cross-mark on one's forehead. These Catholic/Pagan-infested church buildings claim that they are "repenting in dust and ashes," however, this the complete OPPOSITE of what Jesus Christ told us to do. Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. -Matthew 6:16-18 These hypocrites (as Jesus Christ Himself called them) place ash on their foreheads, and they are disfiguring their faces with dirt, but the Lord Jesus Christ said to wash your face. These hypocrites also appear unto all men to fast, but the Lord Jesus Christ said it should all be done in secret. Not only are these hypocrites not doing a real fast (water only), but if we observe a particular time of the year to fast all at the same time, how could we hide it and keep it secret? (Read "The Biblical Understanding of Fasting" here at creationliberty.com for more details.) Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. -1 Peter 1:13-16 We cannot be sanctified in holiness to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ while acting against His Gospel; practicing paganism and teaching it to others.

Even the time-frame in which Easter is celebrated doesn't make any sense. Supposedly, according to churches who celebrate this perverted tradition, Jesus Christ was executed Friday evening (i.e. Good Friday), and is resurrected Sunday morning, but the Bible tells us:

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
-Matthew 12:40

Jesus Christ's body was dead three days and three nights before he resurrected Himself, but church buildings only wait half this amount of time for their celebration. Nowhere does the Bible say what day of the week this took place. If these churches really believe what they're doing is Biblical, then why don't they follow after the Bible and wait to celebrate until Monday night?

The reason the Bible is not followed for the time frame of Easter is because Christians do not look to the Word of God for guidance. They look to CATHOLIC TRADITION (i.e. the precepts of men) to tell them what to do and how to do it.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
-Matthew 15:8

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
-Isaiah 29:13

Brainwashed Christians: Easter vs Passover One of the reasons people hold on to their pagan traditions, and don't recognize them as evil, is because they study new-age versions of the Bible that corrupt God's Word. There are millions of books, websites, and videos telling people that Passover and Easter are one and the same, and that's typically how they are portrayed on most "Christian" websites out there. The sad part about this is that not only are they blind to the wickedness they participate in, but many of them turn around and attack the King James Bible on this issue. "The word 'Easter' is only found in one scripture in the entire King James Bible. Other translations have thankfully corrected this mistake." -Mark L. Long, Misplaced Loyalty, Xlibris Corporation, 2009, p. 157, ISBN: 9781441589118 The King James Bible uses the term "Easter" in Acts 12, the only place in the Bible where the pagan celebration is mentioned. In new-age versions, they use the term "Passover," so let's take a look at this text carefully: And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. -Acts 12:4 William Tyndale (1494-1536) is the man given credit with coining the word "Passover," because there was no single-word English equivalent at the time, and the Tyndale Bible, like the KJB, uses the word "Easter" in Acts 12:4. TYNDALE BIBLE: "And when he had caught him he put him in preson and delyvered him to .iiii. quaternios of soudiers to be kepte entendynge after ester to brynge him forth to the people." I've received numerous (and very arrogant) emails from self-proclaimed Christians trying to tell me that the KJB has a translation error in Acts 12:4, and others telling me they have degrees in Greek and the KJB is wrong. I don't care how much Greek somebody knows, and I don't care how well-studied someone thinks he is on this issue, I'm going to show Christians how God's Word proves the proper translation in Acts 12:4 is Easter, and new-age versions got it wrong. (Read "Why I Use The King James Bible" here at creationliberty.com for more details.) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. -Exodus 12:18 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover. -Leviticus 23:5 According to Scripture, the Jews were to kill a lamb and eat it on the celebration day (which Tyndale named) Passover (Nisan [Jewish Calendar] 14-21). For a full week after that, they were supposed to eat unleavened bread, and that week, the week AFTER Passover, is called the days of unleavened bread. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. -Exodus 12:15 The 14th of Nisan is "Passover," and the 15th-21st is "the feast of unleavened bread." The Bible clearly makes a distinction between the day of Passover, and the days of unleavened bread. (Even new-age version readers should be able to understand this.) This is also contextual subject matter one must understand to see what Paul was talking about in 1Cr 5: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. -1 Corinthians 5:7-8 This is not saying that we are to observe days and times (Gal 4:9-11), but that the Passover celebration was completed in Christ, and that we should purge out wickedness and iniquity from His Church. With Christ, the Passover is finished, and now we are to be unleavened in Him, this dispensation being a representation of the feast of unleavened bread. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. -Leviticus 23:6 Of course, the new-age version user might come back and say "Aha! (Psa 40:15) It says seven days! And the 21-15 = 6! Therefore you're wrong!" In subtraction, you get a number distance from two different numbers, but when counting to six, people forget to count from zero. If a child is playing hide-and-seek, and they are going to count to ten, they typically start by counting "1," but the problem is that he/she skipped zero to one, so technically, the child only counted to nine, not to ten. When we count material objects, like apples or the fingers on your hand, the number represents a singular object, which means the object is represented directly by the number, but when dealing time (i.e. seconds or calendar days), the time represented by the equidistance between each number. So we have eight days represented for this feast, the first day being Passover, and the following seven days being the days of unleavened bread. Now that we have proper contextual knowledge from God's Word, let's go back and analyze Acts 12:4 once more: Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) [i.e. Passover had already passed.] And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. -Acts 12:1-4 If Herod were to wait until after Passover, as the new-age versions have inserted, then he would have waited another full year. That makes no sense because the Jews wanted him dead right then and there; however, there was a celebration going on at the same time that was a big party in the Roman Empire, and that was the Easter celebration. Herod didn't want to have to do work, and have his officers do a bunch of work, to interrupt their fun time pagan festival, so he waited until after Easter was over to appease the Jews. It also doesn't make sense for Herod to put sixteen soldiers (four quaternions) to guard over one prison cell for an entire year. The only way this makes sense in the context of the Bible was if the celebration that was recorded here was the "Easter" celebration of the pagans in the Roman Empire. You may run into some church-goers that will try to lie to you and tell you that the entire 8-day celebration was Passover, and not one day. If you see someone make that argument, ask them to show it to you in Scripture, so you can catch them in their lie because the Bible specifically points out that the Passover celebration is labeled as one day, and the days of unleavened bread is labeled separately. And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. -Numbers 33:3 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. -Joshua 5:11 It doesn't matter how many Christians want to try to argue with you that the word pascha means "passover," but that is NOT the proper translation in Acts 12:4, and the context of Scripture proves it. (i.e. God's Word says "passover" is wrong in Acts 12:4.) The word pascha is used in Scripture 29 times, and of those 29, 28 are used for "passover," and only once for Easter; many new-age scholars want to condemn the King James Bible over that point, but I want to point out that there is no Greek-equivalent word for Easter. Rome was celebrating their feasts at the same time the Jews were celebrating theirs, and when writing this down in Greek, there was no other word to use for that celebration at the time, except pascha, because the word "passover" would not be invented for another 1500 years, and the word "Easter" would not be applied to the Roman celebration for a long time afterward. The new-age scoffer will ignore you if you say this, repeating that pascha is NOT the Greek word for Easter. So ask them: What is the Greek word for Easter then? They can't give you an answer because there isn't one. To further demonstrate this point to those of you who want to learn the truth about this, and how many websites and books out there lie to people to say that pascha is not used as a word for Easter, I got to thinking that the Easter celebration is such a world-wide event, surely the Greeks must have some word they use for it. So I went to lexilogos.com, which has a translator from English to Greek, and I decided to enter in the title of this article "Easter: Christians Celebrating Abomination," and let it translate the phrase, which you can see if you click this link: https://translate.google.com/?hl=en#en/el/Easter%3A%20Christians%20Celebrating%20Abomination If you click the link and read how it came out, you should notice the word Πασχα is used for "Easter." Πασχα is Páscha. Despite what your Greek grammar dictionary says, when a Greek-speaking person wants to say "Easter," they use the word pascha. (Read "The 'Original Greek' Scam" & "Dangers of Using Lexicons and Concordances" here at creatonliberty.com for more details on why Christians should not rely on Greek grammar dictionaries and lexicons to interpret the Bible for them.) Thus God has perfectly preserved His Word in the English for us. The new-age versions, by covering up Easter, are hiding the fact that Easter was a pagan celebration of the heathen, and it helps keep Christians ignorant of the truth. Those who use a Geneva Bible have also written us in attempt to attack the KJB on this issue. William Tyndale (aforementioned) influenced about 80% of the Geneva Bible, but those who worked on the GB chose to change the word "Easter" to "Passover." GENEVA BIBLE: "And when he had caught him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to be kept, intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people." GB-users believe Passover to be correct despite the direct Scriptural contradiction. To put it bluntly, the Geneva Bible is WRONG in Acts 12:4, and this why I tell GB-users that they ought to get themselves a KJB. The new-age versions are in error, just like most Christians out there, and I pray they would have their eyes opened and pick up a Bible without error. Many of us have used bad versions as new Christians, but once we learn the truth, we have a responsibility to put down the bad texts, and pick up the preserved Word of God. (Read "Why I Use The King James Bible" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

A few years ago, around Easter time, I had an elderly woman say to me, "You must be very busy with the 'Holy Days' this weekend." She is the elder of a Baptist church down the road from where we live (unbiblically so, because women are not permitted to be elders in Scripture), and it's the same church we've had to rebuke for their practices of Halloween. It's sickening that this church-going woman would have such lack of discernment to associate the word "holy," a word reserved for the Lord Jesus Christ, and apply it to a disgusting pagan festival of witches.

Are we doing what Christ wants according to His Word? Or are we just doing what feels good to us?

If we are truly born-again in Christ, we should not be children in our understanding. We need to be adults when addressing these subjects.

Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
-1 Corinthians 14:20

Are you celebrating Easter because it seems right in your own eyes?
Or is the Word of God the standard by which you make decisions in spiritual matters?

Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
-Deuteronomy 12:8

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
-Proverbs 12:15

Are you celebrating Easter because it feels good in your heart?
Or do we look to the Word of God to tell us what to do?

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
-Jeremiah 17:9

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
-Proverbs 21:2

Are you celebrating Easter because of your church building tradition?
Or do you follow the Lord Jesus Christ in all matters?

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
-Colossians 2:6-8

Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
-Mark 7:13

Those still celebrating Easter, if they will be honest with themselves, they are looking for excuses to justify themselves in darkness instead of choosing to sanctify themselves.

And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
-Luke 16:15

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
-1 Peter 2:9

Where is the discernment of Christians to stand up for what's right and purge the evil leaven (like Easter) out of the Body of Christ? When will they stop teaching the way of the heathen to these children?

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
-1 Corinthians 5:7

But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
-Hebrews 5:14

Our salvation is not based on our works, or in other words, you don't go to hell because you participated in an Easter celebration or event. However, when we practice pagan rituals, we're practicing the paganism of witches, and when we do works of iniquity, we run the risk of bringing curses upon ourselves, our family, and our homes because when we sow wicked deeds, we will reap the same.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
-Galatians 6:8

I've witnessed a number of Christians that believe that because their souls are saved, therefore, they have nothing else to lose. You can lose your health, your home, your family, and there's also rewards in heaven to consider, which is why Our Heavenly Father, if we are really His children, loves us enough to chasten us when we do wickedness.

Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
-Deuteronomy 8:5

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
-Hebrews 12:6

I pray Christians would hear the Word of God and take caution to sanctify themselves from pagan rituals like Easter.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
-2 Corinthians 6:14-18

 

I had a witch write us in 2014 about our expose on Easter, and here's what she wrote:
"Hello, Mr. Johnson, my name is Patricia and I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the research and time you spent learning the true origins of these 'Christian' holidays, and then making the effort to get this information to a wider audience. It is rather frustrating to see so many Christians celebrating Christ with all these pagan symbols that they don't understand. I myself am familiar with much of this information, so it is quite a relief to see it posted on a website such as this, as opposed to only seeing it on pro-pagan blogs where Christians rarely venture. It's also nice to see a web article where you know the author is educated enough on the topic to post the citations where he got all the information instead of merely typing his opinion and making others guess whether or not his information is credible."

It's sad that I get better compliments about the research I've done on Easter from a witch than I've received from Christians. I have a hard time getting Christians to read one word of this article. But before anyone thinks I'm not being hated by the world, let's keep reading.

"Still, there is something that I am a bit confused about and wanted to ask you. The rituals that these people once performed all seemed to stem from the idea of rebirth and the returning of the light. They celebrate with brightly colored eggs and bunny rabbits to symbolize fertility and new life coming into the world, when all the animals would have their babies and the plants grew green again after the long winter. I just wanted to know why those things were so bad to celebrate."

I already explained why they're evil. She just doesn't like the explanation, and you'll see her say that in a moment.

So most born-again Christians can probably see where this witch is about to go with this message. On the one hand, she has explained to me how thoroughly researched and accurate the article is, but on the other hand, she hates it when someone rebukes her heathen witchcraft.

What's interesting is that this witch tries to justify pagan ritual in the EXACT SAME WAY church-goers try to justify it: by their feelings.

"The people back then feared the cold winters, feared there would not be enough food to make it through, feared that the cold would kill them, their family, and their friends. Wouldn't a celebration of returning abundance and warmth be called for? I just don't understand why that was so wicked, and why pagans where evil."

She won't accept her deeds as evil, because she doesn't feel like they're evil. Her moral judgment comes down to her personal feelings, which is fickle and logically fallacious in every sense. I've had live podcast conversations with atheists about this very topic, and they try to handle morality in the exact same way.
(Read "Everything You Need to Know About Atheism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
-Psalm 111:10

Just as an atheist does, the pagan holds their mind and their heart as the final authority for all moral action. It's all based on their feelings. I explained the Scripture in this article, and why witchcraft is evil, but she simply hates that the Bible condemns it.

"I must be frank with you, Mr. Johnson. Yes, your article truthfully points out the origins of Easter and why it is pagan at its heart and uses pagan symbolism, but the approach you took on the topic was extremely offensive."

I've talked with many people, and have had many of them tell me how offended they were after I told them they were guilty of breaking God's Laws. Of course, the truth is going to be offensive, and it's humorous how many people think I'm not aware of it.

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
-Matthew 24:9-10

We are commanded to be salt, and salt irritates wounds:

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
-Matthew 5:13

If you're a born-again Christian, and you're not irritating people by the teaching of the Word of God, you're doing something wrong.

"You can write on and on about paganism being evil because 'they *gasp* celebrate fertility! And the rebirth of spring and light! And the changing of the seasons! And wait, they have a goddess AND a god that are equal in every way and show that feminine qualities are just as important as masculine ones?! Wait, why is that a bad thing? Oh, it says so in this book!' That's great, but you'll find that others see Christianity as that religion that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Why? Because their god told them to."

Even though I explained how Catholicism is not part of Christianity, this witch still believes the lie. They say they're Christians, so she automatically believes what she's told, even though hypocritically, she doesn't like it when church-goers automatically believe when they're told her pagan rituals are "Christian."

Though she lies to tell people that God "told them" [i.e. Catholics] to kill "hundreds of thousands of people," Christ actually told us the opposite:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
-2 Corinthians 10:3-5

That's why the Roman Catholic Church took great pains to keep people from being able to read the Word of God; they didn't want people to know they had no authority to torture and murder people for their wicked pope. The Catholic Church even put the Bible on a banned reading material list at one time.
(Read "Why I Use The King James Bible - Where Bible Versions Come From" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

In the end, she hates the Bible, because she hates the Christian God of the Bible. Just as the atheist and evolutionist, if she can use the lies of Catholicism as an excuse to run from the Christian God of the Bible, she'll take it.

"But this book says it's right, so...it must be right and everything else must be wrong. Now, how did it feel reading that opinion, Mr. Johnson? Do you feel your faith in humanity slipping as people attack your faith, the thing you hold above everything else?"

How did I feel? Blessed.

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
-Luke 6:22

She's doing the exact same thing she's accusing me of doing; only I told her what the Lord God has said, and she's telling me her personal opinion.

"I just wanted you to know that your article is hurtful, and I hope one day you gain some perspective, along with some religious tolerance. And in a perfect world, consider uploading an apology."

I don't apologize for the truth. And I find it fascinating that she claims I'm intolerant to worldly religions.

tolerate (v): to suffer to be or to be done without prohibition or hinderance; to allow or permit negatively, by not preventing
(See 'tolerance', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Feb 28, 2015 [webstersdictionary1828.com])

I would like her to show me one time I ever prevented her from practicing witchcraft. I never once said in this article that people can't practice witchcraft. I pointed out that it is sin in the sight of God, and she took offense to that because she's dedicated her life to her sinful craft.

I tolerate her paganism all the time when I go out of my home to work. I have to put up with pagan holiday expressions and decorations all the time. But what this witch really wants is acceptance.

accept (v): to consent or agree to
(See 'accept', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Feb 28, 2015 [webstersdictionary1828.com])

I will not accept (consent or agree to) paganism and witchcraft. Period. The Word of God has condemned them, and I make effort to love the things He loves, and hate the things He hates, and He hates the ways of the heathen. I tolerate the heathen rituals all the time when I go out into town, but I will not tolerate it in my home, nor in the Body of Christ, and this woman is a hypocrite because she won't tolerate the rebuke from the Word of God in her home; she can't even hardly tolerate reading the Word of God on this website, let alone accept it into her home and life, but she expects others to tolerate and accept her witchcraft.

I will tell everyone reading this the same thing I told her:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft... they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
-Galatians 5:20-21

Get angry with me all you want. Call me all the names you wish. Cast all the spells you desire. Pray to all the false gods you choose—none will save you from the Judgment of the True Living God.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
-Hebrews 9:27

You're guilty of breaking God's Laws, and He puts an eternal penalty as the punishment for those crimes, and no one else in this world can pay your eternal penalty because they each owe their own. There's only one way out; click here to learn more.



 

April Fools' Day is celebrated for pagan reasons as well. Prior to the 16th century, European countries celebrated the New Year's Day on April 1st:
"In 16th-century France, the start of the new year was observed on April 1st. It was celebrated like our New Year's Eve is celebrated today. In 1562, however, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian [i.e. Catholic] world, and the new year then fell on January 1st."
-James J. Gormley, "April Fish?" Better Nutrition Magazine, April, 2001, p. 12

Unsurprisingly, the Catholic Church is involved, once again, in pagan activity. The New Year was in April, which was also about the same time that God declared the first month to the Jews. Pope Gregory XIII moved the New Year celebration so it would not interfere with the pagan celebration of Easter, and then spread propaganda to bully people into the new decree:
"There were some people, though, who hadn't heard about the new date for New Year's, or who didn't believe it. They continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1st. Other people thought that this was worthy of fun, and so played tricks on those April New Year's revellers, calling them 'April fools.'"
-James J. Gormley, "April Fish?" Better Nutrition Magazine, April, 2001, p. 12

"April Fools' Day started because New Year's Day fell during Easter week. That may sound like nonsense, but those are the facts."
-Jack Santino, quoting Mildred Arthur, All Around the Year: Holidays and Celebrations in American Life, University of Illinois Press, 1995, p. 97, ISBN: 9780252065163; Santino is a Professor of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University.

So in a nutshell, the Catholic church wanted to spread out the pagan celebrations, and placed New Year's Day the week after their pagan Christmas celebration, which did not move around based on the full moon. They then spread the tradition of labeling anyone a fool who would not recognize Catholic authority for changing the dates, and those who carry on the tradition of April Fools' Day also carry on observing Catholic decrees.



 

There is a lot of deception floating around about Easter in typical American church buildings, and a lot of it is not about what they're teaching, it's what they're not teaching. One of the biggest problems is that, when asking for Biblical justification for Easter, the average church-goer will point to the crucifixion of Christ, but that same church-goer is completely blind that he is simply repeating what his pastor said. There is no connection between Easter and the crucifixion of Christ, and no link between them can be made in the Word of God; it's pagan idolatry.

BILLY GRAHAM - Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Billy Graham is a fantastic example of the deception I just mentioned, in which a connection between Easter and the Bible is automatically assumed. In an article entitled "Why Easter Matters" on Billy Graham's website, the first line says: "Billy Graham has had a lot to say over the years about Christ's death and resurrection—what he has called the two 'most important events in human history.'"

-Billy Graham, "Why Easter Matters: 10 Quotes From Billy Graham," Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Mar 30, 2015, retrieved Mar 15, 2016, [billygraham.org/story/why-easter-matters-10-billy-graham-quotes]; Read "Wolves in Costume: Billy Graham" here at creationliberty.com for more details.

The article goes on to quote Graham saying "Without the resurrection, the cross is meaningless," which is a true statement, but that has NOTHING to do with the title of the article. The article is called "Why Easter Matters," not "Why the Resurrection Matters," but it is automatically implied that Easter and Christ's Resurrection are the same thing, which is known in logical argument as a "false equivocation."

An argument from equivocation is structured like this: A is B
B is X
Therefore, A is X
The false equivocation being used here is implying that Easter is Christian by way of using a truth (i.e. Christ's Resurrection) to trick people. To more easily understand what this means, we'll replace A with 'Easter', B with 'Christ's Resurrection', and X with Christian:
Easter is Christ's Resurrection (FALSE)
Christ's Resurrection is Christian (TRUE)
Therefore, Easter is Christian (FALSE)
More commonly, equivocation is known as 'doublespeak':

doublespeak (n): evasive, ambiguous language that is intended to deceive or confuse
(See 'doublespeak', Random House Dictionary, Random House Inc, 2016, retrieved Mar, 2016; See also Collins English Dictionary, Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition, William Collins Sons & Co)

Doublespeak is ambiguous (not well defined or understood) words that trick people into believing something that isn't true. The Bible addresses doublespeak:

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
-Psalm 12:1-2

The words they speak with their mouths is a call to impress with flattering lips, but their words do not reflect the true nature of their hearts. False preachers like Billy Graham preach the doublespeak about Easter because, today, it is a staple of church buildings, and he knows it will be easy to sway the masses if he tells them feel-good messages that scratch their itching ears.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap [gather into a pile] to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
-2 Timothy 4:3-4

Billy Graham's staff was asked if Easter is pagan, and they responded:
"As pagans were transformed by the Gospel, the Christian celebration took the pagan name. In the year 325, the Nicene Council set the annual observance of Easter on the first Sunday following the full moon after the March equinox (usually March 20 or 21). Some Christians prefer the name Resurrection Sunday instead of Easter. This avoids any confusion with pagan roots and also exalts the significance of Christ's death and resurrection above the commercialization of Easter."
-BGEA Staff, "Is it true that the name Easter is pagan in origin?" Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, retrieved Mar 15, 2016, [billygraham.org/answer/is-it-true-that-the-name-easter-is-pagan-in-origin]

I've got to give credit to Graham's organization; they are experts in public relations doublespeak tactics. First of all, in our expose, "Wolves in Costume: Billy Graham,' we revealed Graham's true beliefs, that all men everywhere can get to heaven without Christ, and that includes Catholics, whom he believes are Christians.

Graham's organization is no different from Graham in that they also believe that Catholics are Christians, which is a lie, but that's why they refer to "the Nicene Council" casually as an authority alongside the "early centuries of the Christian church." Because of their acceptance of a false doctrine that rejects the Lord Jesus Christ, they are completely blinded to the fact that the Catholic church IS pagan, and that's why Catholics set an observance of Easter in the first place; the "early centuries of the Christian church," never had a celebration day for Christ's Resurrection, and every time I see that statement (i.e. "the early church celebrated Christ's Resurrection") on "ministry" websites, I notice the author never provides any evidence, Biblical and/or historical, to back that up.

What's worse is they believe falsely that Christians were celebrating Christ's Resurrection, and after pagans were converted to Christ, they changed the name of the celebration to Easter. This is said out of pure ignorance. Nowhere in Scripture are we taught to reevaluate and transform the ways of pagans into something for Christ, but rather we are to escape the pollutions of the world and sanctify ourselves from them, and so the early church was rebuked by the disciples of Christ to turn from their old pagan ways:

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
-2 Peter 2:18-22

Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
-Galatians 4:8-11

Billy Graham and his organization believe that early Christians had a celebration day that got sucked into a pagan ritual. The truth is that early Christians were taught to sanctify themselves away from observance of days in pagan rituals, and it was the abomination of the Catholic Church that developed the traditions we see today.

Aside from the Catholic/pagan deception, I'd say the worst part of this is the deceptive name "Resurrection Sunday," which is effort to help themselves justify their pagan activities. They still celebrate all this at the same exact time as Easter because they know that's the time when they can get a bunch of people into their pews, so they can give more money and so the pastor can preach to them the cross of Christ.

The money part is obviously deceptive, but why is it deceptive to get them in so they can have the cross of Christ preached to them?

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
-1Co 1:18

The preaching of the cross of Christ is only good for two types of people; either for those who are repenting and seeking the Lord Jesus Christ, or those who have repented and been born-again. For everyone else, the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them, and out of politeness, they'll sit in the back pews, listen, and then go home thinking they're right with God because they went to a church building on Easter Sunday.

These men are looking to bring in as many people as they can (under selfish pretenses), only to give unbelievers and false converts a justification that will blind them to the truth that they are on the road to hell and need to be saved. I give praise to our Lord Jesus Christ in His infinite wisdom and understanding when He said:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
-Matthew 23:15

KEN HAM - Answers in Genesis

After Ken Ham's useless media stunt that he called a "debate" with Bill Nye (watch our video on the subject to learn more), he thought it necessary to make sure people celebrated Easter, and advertised a book by one of their staff members called In Defense of Easter: Answering Critical Challenges to the Resurrection of Jesus. Ham's promotion of Easter should be no surprise since his company makes huge amounts of money in book and DVD sales during this time of year. As you can see, there is double speak in the title to the book, automatically connecting Easter to the Resurrection and calling them the same thing.

The book is described on Ham's website:
"Skeptics and critics understand the magnitude of the Resurrection, and they have developed numerous theories in their desperate attempts to explain away the wealth of evidence. The early Christians focused uniquely on Christ's conquering of death. Yet many in the church today only discuss the this [this is not a typo on my part; this is how it appeared on their site] vital doctrine at Easter time, and some fail to mention it entirely when attempting to share the gospel with unbelievers."
-Ken Ham, "Just in Time for Easter--In Defense of Easter," Answers in Genesis, Apr 8, 2014, retrieved Mar 15, 2016, [answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2014/04/08/just-in-time-for-easter-in-defense-of-easter]

Who? Where? Please explain to me where any of you have ever heard any church-goer or church building fail to mention Christ in relation to Easter. The entire purpose of this article is to expose pagans calling themselves Christians in their attempts to falsely connect Christ to Easter, but Ken Ham's organization acts like everyone's forgotten to put Christ in their pagan melting pot.

Ken Ham, being far too busy marketing his business--I mean, "ministry," doesn't actually address the issue himself; he leaves it to other authors. -Ken Ham, Facebook Post Mar 13, 2016, retrieved Mar 15, 2016, [facebook.com/aigkenham/posts/1110881912275497]

In this instance, Ham refers to Roger Patterson, a former public school teacher who works for AiG:
"The controversy seems to have blossomed at the beginning of the twentieth century and has caused many disturbances through the years."
-Roger Patterson, "Is the Name 'Easter' of Pagan Origin?" Answers in Genesis, Apr 19, 2011, retrieved Mar 15, 2016, [answersingenesis.org/holidays/easter/is-the-name-easter-of-pagan-origin]

That's simply not true; other preachers in past times have condemned the traditions surrounding the Easter celebration. For example, Charles Spurgeon in the mid-19th century called Good Friday "superstitious ceremonies" and an "ordinance of man," in which people were just putting on a show for everyone else to make themselves seem holy and righteous.
(See Charles Spurgeon, The Complete Works of C.H. Spurgeon, Delmarva Publications Inc, 2015, Vol. 7, Sermons 348-426)

However, I would say the frequency of debate about the paganism of Easter did spring up in the 20th century, and that was because it wasn't until the 19th century that church buildings in America started adopting the traditions of the Catholics. Since it's almost impossible to say a rebuking word against the Catholic Church and work for AiG at the same time, we can likely conclude that Patterson won't breathe a word exposing the Catholic Church.

Patterson addresses some authors who teach the same thing I have demonstrated, that Easter is the name for numerous goddesses that originated in Babylon, and the Roman Catholic connection of fusing paganism with Christian doctrine, but says:
"While many of the claims in the books are sound, the connection of Eostre to these other goddesses is tenuous [weak] at best."
-Roger Patterson, "Is the Name 'Easter' of Pagan Origin?" Answers in Genesis, Apr 19, 2011, retrieved Mar 15, 2016, [answersingenesis.org/holidays/easter/is-the-name-easter-of-pagan-origin]

Even though we demonstrated earlier this is exactly what pagans and witches believe and teach, Patterson approached this topic with a presupposition that it was not true because, after all, he celebrates Easter. For him to connect in his mind that he does something abominable in the sight of God is too grievous for him to bear, so he picks a bad argument from one of the authors and attacks it:
"For instance, he argued on a phonetic basis that Eostre from Saxony must be the same as Astarte, Ishtar, and Ashtoreth. This is a leap to consider their relationships based on the sound of the names alone. We might find many examples of words that sound the same in various languages but share no common root or meaning."
-Roger Patterson, "Is the Name 'Easter' of Pagan Origin?" Answers in Genesis, Apr 19, 2011, retrieved Mar 15, 2016, [answersingenesis.org/holidays/easter/is-the-name-easter-of-pagan-origin]

On this point, Patterson is correct, but in this article, I never made that argument. He's correct, that's a bad argument, if indeed the author he is referring to made that argument. I make the argument that these goddesses by these names are all taught to be the same by pagans and witches, and the goddesses in their mythology take on similar representations, which provides strong evidence of a collective link.

The reason I'm pointing this out is because I was laughing when I read Patterson say that similarity of names doesn't necessarily prove a link. Remember, this is all coming from AiG, and if you read our article on Christmas in the 'Popular Christian Icons' section, you'll find that Bodie Hodge (author for AiG; promoted by Ken Ham) defends Christmas by using the similarity of names argument.
(Read "Christmas: The Rejection of Jesus" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Patterson goes on to argue exactly what we exposed in this article, that pascha means passover, and that despite the fact that Easter comes from the root word east, pointing to the sunrise and worshiping of the sun, he suggests that the word actually means "resurrection," which shouldn't be a surprise since that's what he was trying to justify before he began his research. It also shouldn't be a surprise that we see Patterson say the following:
"In the Hebrew, Passover is Pesach. The Greek... takes the form Pascha. Virtually all languages refer to Easter as either a transliterated form of pascha or use resurrection in the name."
-Roger Patterson, "Is the Name 'Easter' of Pagan Origin?" Answers in Genesis, Apr 19, 2011, retrieved Mar 15, 2016, [answersingenesis.org/holidays/easter/is-the-name-easter-of-pagan-origin]

Earlier, we demonstrated that pascha means different things depending on the context, and so in summary, what he's arguing is because pesach and pascha are similar spellings, therefore, they mean the same thing. He just argued what he criticized another author for doing, and he doesn't even see it. This is the kind of blindness and hypocrisy we can expect from wicked organizations like AiG, who will go to any lengths to justify themselves (and their paychecks) in their idolatry.

Anyone is welcome to waste their time arguing language translations all they want, but the fact is that there is no place in the Bible where Easter and the Resurrection can be linked, and there is no place in the Bible where you can point to the early church observing those days. This leaves the position of Easter being a "Christian holiday" unbiblical because people must go outside Scripture to support it, but the position of Easter being pagan idolatry is Biblical because it can be supported with Scripture.

KIRK CAMERON - Way of the Master/Living Waters

On Kirk Cameron's official website (kirkcameron.com), he has an article titled "Is the Date of Easter of Pagan Origin?" The author is Roger Patterson of Answers in Genesis; yes, that's right -- Kirk Cameron simply republishes AiG's article as his answer for Easter. (See Roger Patterson, "Is the Date of Easter of Pagan Origin?" Kirk Cameron in Partnership with Liberty University, Mar 10, 2016, retrieved Mar 16, 2016, [kirkcameron.com/is-the-date-of-easter-of-pagan-origin])

There's nothing else to say here since Cameron doesn't write or produce anything on Easter that I'm aware of. He just repeats the same fallacious arguments that other mainstream organizations do to justify themselves.

STEVEN ANDERSON - Faithful Word Baptist Church

Steven Anderson is a wicked, hateful, warmongering preacher that has no business leading anything or anyone. (I just needed to make sure I'm clear on our position concerning him.) In an Easter Sunday sermon, he refers to the King James Bible using the word 'Easter' in Acts 12:

"[T]o say that it's a pagan word about a pagan festival... the bible says every word of God is pure, he is shield to them that put their trust in him, you can't take a word from God's word in the King James Bible and say that's a bad word; that is a pagan word. If it were a pagan word, then God wouldn't be using it in Acts 12:4 in your King James Bible."

-Steven Anderson, "Easter is not a Wicked or Pagan Word," Faithful Word Baptist Church, retrieved Mar 16, 2016, [youtu.be/JGQUak9ltxo?t=3m4s]

The Word of the Lord God is pure, that is true, but that doesn't mean the subject of everything the Lord God talks about in His Word is pure. This statement from Anderson is beyond absurd, especially for someone who claims he's studied the Bible from his youth, and let's look at Judges to explain what I mean:

And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
-Judges 2:12-13

If we approach the Bible using Anderson's method of interpretation, then Baal and Ashtaroth are not bad or pagan. In fact, if we take Anderson seriously, then we would have to say Baal and Ashtaroth are pure, and that's heresy.

Let's look at a New Testament example, just to make sure no one has an excuse to say the OT and NT are different on this matter:

For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
-Acts 19:24-28

Diana was the goddess of the hunt, and if we take Anderson's approach to Scripture, we have to say that Diana was pure and not pagan, and that these craftsman were pure and not pagan. That makes no sense whatsoever, but Anderson preaches that message nonetheless because he knows the reverence with which the general population treats Easter, and thus he also knows that will increase his status as a "pastor" and increase donations to his church building.
(Read "Wolves in Costume: Steven Anderson" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

MICHAEL HOUDMANN - Got Questions

Before we address GotQuestions (.org), we need to acknowledge a couple of things, first, that this organization is the Reader's Digest version of Biblical teaching, or as I prefer to call it, a McDonald's drive-thru where people can get a quick 3-4 paragraph response that they automatically accept as truth so they don't have to do any research and study for themselves. The other thing I want to make sure Christians understand is that in previous articles, I've published email exchanges I've had with a representative from GotQuestions about 501c3, in which they told me directly that they have no idea if they're actually teaching the truth of the matter, but they decide to publish false information anyway (and this is all because it helps them justify their own 501c3 contract).
(Read "God Does Not Justify Lies" here at creationliberty.com for more details on GotQuestions and their suggestions to Christians that they lie and cheat for Christ.)

Michael Houdmann, president of GotQuestions, keeps any author's name away from their responses, so no one generally has to answer for what has been written. (i.e. It's cowardice so they can avoid be held accountable for their teachings.) Since Houdmann won't be open with that information, I will default the penmanship to Houdmann. Although I will give Houdmann credit for telling people that there is no Biblical connection between Easter and the Resurrection, he still helps people feel comfortable with their pagan traditions:

"Jesus' resurrection is most worthy of being celebrated (see 1 Corinthians 15). While it is appropriate for Jesus' resurrection to be celebrated on a Sunday, the day on which Jesus' resurrection is celebrated should not be referred to as Easter. Easter has nothing to do with Jesus' resurrection on a Sunday. As a result, many Christians feel strongly that the day on which we celebrate Jesus' resurrection should not be referred to as 'Easter Sunday.' Rather, something like 'Resurrection Sunday' would be far more appropriate and biblical. For the Christian, it is unthinkable that we would allow the silliness of Easter eggs and the Easter bunny to be the focus of the day instead of Jesus' resurrection."

-Michael Houdmann, "What is Easter Sunday?" GotQuestions, retrieved Mar 16, 2016, [gotquestions.org/Easter-Sunday.html]

There's a number of things that should be addressed about this statement, first being that I am in agreement if someone were to say that Christ deserves all glory and honor, but here, Houdmann is helping people to justify pagan ritual by simply referencing to the entire chapter of 1Co 15, which I will not quote the entirety of here. (It's just too long for this article.) The summary of 1Co 15, which I encourage you to go back and read, is saying that if Christ was not risen from the dead, then all of our faith and works are in vain. The problem with Houdmann is that doesn't justify people to have a celebration tradition correlated with paganism, and I know I've quoted this Scripture many times in this article already, but I want do it again because you'll notice that on all the different mainstream websites out there, no one quotes this Scripture when discussing their Easter schedule:

Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
-Galatians 4:8-11

In the last section on Anderson, I quoted Acts 19, which referenced to the words of a pagan man who wanted to attack Paul, because Paul was teaching that the pagan gods "be no gods." That is exactly what Paul is saying here in Galatians, that they were doing service unto them which "are no gods," that being the gods of those who celebrated Easter in the first place, and the Catholic Church's false gods as they brought them all together under one umbrella.

Just as a reminder, the word 'sanctified' means 'set apart':

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth... And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
-John 17:15-19

So not only is Houdmann ignoring the commandments of Scripture for us to sanctify ourselves from the world, but he also helps comfort church-goers that they should continue in the traditions of bondage from whence they have claimed to be delivered. He then says "many Christians feel strongly that the day on which we celebrate Jesus' resurrection should not be referred to as 'Easter Sunday'," and you can see how that automatically implies that Christians ought to have a day of observance for this event.

He then strongly suggests that Christians not call it Easter, but rather call it 'Resurrection Day.' This is deceptive. I would rather they call it 'Easter', so at least they're being honest that they're observing days and times in accordance with pagan rituals.

To call Easter something else is just hiding in cowardice, kind of like how GotQuestions hides their authors in cowardice. It's no different from Halloween when church-goers will rename their 'Halloween Party' to a 'Fall Harvest Party', which they "coincidentally" schedule in accordance with the pagan sabbat, and the bottom line is that sanctification from the world is almost unheard of in modern-day American "ministries" and church buildings.
(Read "Halloween: Are Christians Lovers of Death?" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

There is no rebuke or correction or pointing towards righteousness coming from Houdmann, and I know many people rely on their ministry for answers. I pray the Lord Jesus Christ would protect as many of His elect as possible from the deception of GotQuestions.

ERIC HOVIND - Creation Today

I was unable to find any type of teachings or posts that Eric Hovind has made on his website or blog, but in his online shopping mall, he imitates Ken Ham by promoting and selling In Defense of Easter: Answering Critical Challenges to the Resurrection of Jesus that we mentioned earlier. Aside from his silence, a search of Creation Today provides links that point back to Ken Ham's blog posts, and also GotQuestions.org and their leaven, which we have already covered. And of course, all this information is available to you as long as you're willing to pay money for it first.

(See Creation Today, "In Defense of Easter: Answering Critical Challenges to the Resurrection of Jesus eBook," The Creation Store, retrieved Mar 17, 2016, [creationtoday.org/product/in-defense-of-easter-answering-critical-challenges-to-the-resurrection-of-jesus-ebook-epub-mobi]; They charged $9.99 for the PDF as of Mar 17, 2016.)

This is a very common theme seen in a bunch of mainstream websites concerning Easter; they simply refuse to be sanctified from the world. There is very little written on the subject from most of the preachers and evangelists I investigated, and they all seem to point back to the same leavened sources that use fallacious arguments in a pathetic attempt to justify their pagan tradition.

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